Snead takes his time, enjoys ride

OXFORD, Miss. (AP) — This is how Mississippi’s Jevan Snead imagined it would be.

He’s the starting quarterback for the No. 8 team, his photo is on the cover of Sports Illustrated and his name is in the conversation for the Heisman Trophy.

It may have taken him longer to get here than he expected, but he doesn’t mind.

It was clear the 6-foot-4 Texan with the quick-draw right arm found where he belonged when he finally hit the field as a starter. After two lost years waiting it out — first as a backup at Texas, then in Oxford because of NCAA transfer rules — he led Ole Miss to a No. 14 ranking, a 9-4 record and a Cotton Bowl win over Texas Tech.

“The way it has gone in my life, it definitely didn’t happen the way I pictured it with the whole transfer thing, but it really couldn’t have worked out any better for me,” Snead said.

A summary of Snead’s career shows he reads the writing on the wall as well as he reads defenses.

The prep All-American was set to sign with the Florida Gators, then a kid named Tim Tebow entered from the wings. His home-state Longhorns seemed like a better option. He enrolled at Texas early, but Colt McCoy had a head start and wouldn’t step aside. Soon after the 2006 season, Snead packed his bags.

After sitting out 2007, Snead passed for 2,762 yards and 26 touchdowns with 12 interceptions as a sophomore at Ole Miss.

He beat Florida, tossing two touchdowns and rushing for another in a 31-30 win, the game more famously known for Tebow’s postgame speech that spurred the Gators on to the national championship.

He even showed McCoy how it was done with three TD passes against Texas Tech — the team that knocked the Longhorns out of national title contention. The bowl victory capped a six-game winning streak during which Snead had 16 touchdown passes against three interceptions. That burst showed the big arm and athleticism that led scouts to predict major college success for him coming out of Stephenville, Texas.

Many thought Snead would overtake McCoy in the competition to replace Vince Young as the Longhorns’ starter in 2006. But McCoy won the job, and Snead couldn’t get on the field.

The one time he got a real chance to play at Texas, he took over for the injured McCoy against Kansas State and passed for 190 yards and a touchdown before a Longhorns rally fell short.

Snead didn’t want to wait around, though. Former Rebels Coach Ed Orgeron persuaded him to make the Mississippi Hill Country his next stop. Orgeron didn’t have the luxury of time, though. Ole Miss won only three games, and he was fired.

Houston Nutt took over for Orgeron, and the quarterback and coach found they could relate. Like Snead, Nutt had been a college quarterback who transferred from Arkansas to Oklahoma State when it looked like playing time would be scarce in Fayetteville.

When Snead hit a midseason slump and the Rebels were 3-4, Nutt stepped in to pick him up. He told Snead to slow down, to stop trying to make every play.

“I love his nature and the fact that he is very cool,” Nutt said.

Snead’s coaches and teammates said by the time the season was over he was no longer chasing the quarterback ideal, but had become it.

“I go by work ethic,” Nutt said. “I remember last year he took the receivers and really worked hard, and he did the same this summer.”